Piano



H. R. HELLER Oct. 24, 1939.

PIANO Filed Sept. 30, 1936 @2112 W50 154:2 71ml 7 Patented Oct. 24, 1939UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PIANO Henry R. Heller, New York, N. Y.,assignor to Winter & Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New YorkMy invention relates to pianos, and has to do more particularly with animproved tone of piano which will occupy a relatively small floor area.

With the modern tendency toward small living apartments, pianos ofheretofore standard size have been found undesirable for the reason thatthey require unavailable space. Attempts to reduce the size of pianos,however, have generally resulted in instruments of poor tone quality aswell as low volume. The matter of volume is not of primary importancebut the discriminating piano purchaser demands an instrument of firstclass tone, even though it be of so-called apartment size.

An object of my invention is to provide a piano which will occupy arelatively small floor area and will also be comparatively low, asdistinguished from the old fashioned upright style, and at the same timewill have tone quality and volume substantially equal to that of theheretofore standard styles of pianos.

A further object is to provide a piano of the type referred to whichwill be relatively inexpensive to fabricate, simple in construction, andattractive in appearance.

Various other objects and advantages will become apparent as thedescription proceeds.

I have found that if an auxiliary sounding board is provided, asdescribed hereinafter, in addition to the usual sounding board, arelatively small piano will have a tone quality substantially as good asthat of a much larger piano of standard design, as well as adequatevolume. I have also found that these advantages are enhanced when thesound box or cabinet of a piano is so supported as to hang substantiallyfree of the structure supporting the keyboard portion of the piano. Insuch design, with a minimum of contact with the floor or othersupporting surface, the sound box is permitted to vibrate with a minimumof damping effect.

Referring now to the drawing forming a part of this specification andillustrating a preferred embodiment of my invention:

Fig. 1 is a rear elevation of a preferred embodiment of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional View taken substantially on line 2-2of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the piano shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a side elevation showing another style of piano embodying myinvention.

The piano cabinet Ill, according to my invention, is provided withstrings I2, which may be of standard or any other suitable type andcarried by a string plate !3. Adjacent the strings I2 is a main soundingboard 15, which may be of standard or other suitable design, said boardbeing acoustically connected to the strings l2 by a bridge l6. 5

Spaced outwardly from the main sounding board I5 is an auxiliarysounding board 18, said auxiliary sounding board being preferablysecured to diagonal tone bars 20 which normally back up the mainsounding board [5. The auxiliary sounding board 18 is attached to thetone bars 20 by suitable means, such as, for instance, screws 2| or thelike, and it is preferred that said auxiliary sounding board heacoustically integral with the main sounding board [5, this beingaccomplished by placing adhesive of any suitable type between the tonebars and the main sounding board I 5 on the one side and the auxiliarysounding board I8 on the other.

It will be seen from Fig. 2 that the main and 20 auxiliary soundingboards are spaced from each other so as to define tone chambers 25.

The auxiliary sounding board may take any desired shape, but in mypreferred embodiment as shown in Fig. 1, it is formed somewhat smallerin its overall dimensions than the main sounding board, leaving a freemargin 26 wherein the main sounding board is not backed up by theauxiliary board. I have found that the best results are obtained whenthe auxiliary board has an area 80 which is approximately seventypercent that of the main board.

The auxiliary sounding board may be made of acoustical material similarto the main sounding board, such as of seasoned wood.

In a preferred embodiment of my invention, the case If) is suspendedsubstantially free of the floor, and is provided with laterallyextending end portions 30 which extend rearwardly fromv the keyboardhousing 32, said laterally extending por- 4o tions 30 being supported bylegs 35. The piano is further supported under the keyboard housing 32 bylegs 36. Said legs 35 and 36 may be connected at the lower portionthereof by means of a bar 38, although this bar may be omitted, ifdesired. Thus, it will be seen that the major portion of the case orcabinet, constituting the tone chamber, hang substantially free ofcontact with the floor and is thus susceptible of a maximum amount ofvibration, with a minimum of dampmg.

Fig. 4 illustrates a modified form of the piano shown in Figs. 1-3. Inthis embodiment the keyboard housing 40 is supported by means of legs 42and the cabinet, tone chamber or sound box 45 is supported from thefloor by means of a restricted number of casters 46, for example, one ortWo. Said casters may, if desired, be mounted in rubber or otherresilient material and, in any event, exert such a slight degree ofdamping on the tone chamber 45 as to be negligible in this respect, sothat said tone chamber functions substantially similarly to that of theembodiment shown in Figs. 3 and 4'.

It will be apparent that the auxiliary sound board described above maybe used in types of pianos other than those shown and described herein,as for example, in those of the so-called grand type.

Various changes coming within the spirit of my invention may suggestthemselves to those skilled in the art, and hence I do not wish to belimited to the specific embodiments shown or uses mentioned, except tothe extent indicated in the appended claims, which are to be interpretedas broadly as the state of the art will permit.

, I claim:

1. For use in a piano, a main sounding board, an auxiliary soundingboard peripherally spaced inwardly from and substantially parallel tothe plane of the main sounding board, and bar means substantiallyintegrally connected to the main sounding board and on the opposite sidethereof to the auxiliary sounding board throughout the length of saidbar means between said boards.

2. For use in a piano, a main sounding board, an auxiliary soundingboard peripherally spaced inward from and substantially parallel to theplane of the main sounding board, and bars adhesively connected to themain and auxiliary sounding boards throughout the lengths of said barsbetween said boards, said bars and boards together forming a tonechamber open only at the peripheries of said boards.

3. For use in a piano, a sound box, means supporting said sound boxwhereby the latter hangs substantially free, a main sounding boardmounted in said box, an auxiliary sounding board mounted in said box andsubstantially parallel to and spaced from said main sounding board,

the periphery of said auxiliary sounding board being spaced inwardlyfrom that of said main sounding board, and elongated means between andsubstantially integrally connected to the sounding boards throughout thecontiguous areas of said elongated means and boards.

HENRY R. HELLER.

